VJ Books Presents Author Barbara Hambly!
 Barbara Hambly was born in the Naval Hospital of San Diego, California, on the 28th of August, 1951. She grew up in Montclair (in southern California), except for one high school semester spent in New South Wales, Australia. She attended University of California at Riverside, specializing in Medieval History and eventually earning a masters degree in 1975. She also spent time in Bordeaux, France as part of her studies.
She searched for a job that would allow her time to write, trying various positions: a high-school teacher, a model, a waitress, a technical editor, a professional graduate student, an all-night clerk at a liquor store, and a karate instructor. She also wrote scripts for cartoons at one time, including three for the show Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors and one for He-Man. She has been contacted about writing an adventure/fantasy Comix series, and has contributed a graphic novel to The Victorian, a comic series produced by Pennyfarthing Press.
In 1982, Del Rey published her Time of the Dark, and the Darwath Trilogy was born. From there, she proceeded to a historical mystery - The Quirinal Hill Affair, now out of print - a format that she returns to with the Benjamin January murder mysteries. Her first volume of "straight" historical fiction - a book about Mary Todd Lincoln called The Emancipator's Wife - is already gaining her a new audience. Not too many years ago, Barbara Hambly could be defined as a fantasy author, but her very successful foray into historical mysteries has earned her a whole new set of mystery-loving fans.
In fact, even her fantasy books are hard to pigeonhole into any given category. Several have definite historical themes (The Magicians of Night, an excellent blending of fantasy with the Nazis of WWII, and Bride of the Rat God - Chinese culture and turn-of-the-century Los Angeles and Hollywood).
Dragons are another theme; the excellent story Dragonsbane is often cited as a "favorite" Hambly book; a trilogy revisiting the Winterlands appeared more recently, with the further adventures of Jenny, John, and Morkelb concluding in Dragonstar.
Another theme is vampires; Those Who Hunt the Night and Traveling With the Dead, as well as the short-story collection she's edited (Sisters of the Night), deal with the stalkers of the night. Those Who Hunt the Night has been optioned for a film a few times (with Harrison Ford as James Asher, or at least Hambly would like it that way, and Johnny Depp as Ysidro). This leads to one of her writing techniques, which involves "casting" the main characters. This way, she can hear and see them, thus making them more alive.
Oh yes, and we mustn't forget romance. This generally is worked into the plot line, subtly and well, and has earned her some accolades from fans of science-fiction-romance. In the fall of 2004, Harlequin will publish Barbara's first foray into "straight" romance, a contemporary romance novella, called Someone Else's Shadow.
One common theme of her fantasy works is that of cross-over, where a character from one universe, often from California, crosses through the Void to another (The Windrose Chronicles, The Darwath Trilogy, Sun-Cross) - this category could conceivably be extended to include Ishmael. Another theme seems to be estrangement of (adult or young adult) children from their families (Stranger at the Wedding's Kyra, The Quirinal Hill Affair's Marcus, Gil and the Icefalcon, and Joanna). She also manages to get a good bit of humor into her books; not of the rolling-on-the-floor variety, but generally more wry or sarcastic humor. You can find Barbara Hambly author signed books and a complete list of her works below this bio.
She has been the President of the Science Fiction Writers of America (1994-1996), has been a Locus award winner, and a multiple Nebula award nominee, and Guest of Honor at many conventions over the years. She enjoys many non-writing hobbies, including karate (she holds a black belt in Shotokan Karate), dancing, painting, historical and fantasy costuming (something she's enjoyed since high school), tarot card reading, and the occasional bout of carpentry.
Currently, Barbara lives in Los Angeles with cats, lizards, and two "of the cutest Pekinese in the world."
Her website: www.barbarahambly.com
Homeland
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Renfield
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Dead Water
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Wet Grave
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Graveyard Dust
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Traveling With the Dead
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To see Barbara Hambly's bibliography, click here or scroll to the bottom of the page.
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Barbara Hambly Bibliography
Benjamin January mysteries
- A Free Man of Color - 1997
- Fever Season - 1998
- Graveyard Dust - 1999
- Sold Down the River - 2000
- Die Upon a Kiss - 2001
- Wet Grave - 2002
- Days of the Dead - 2003
- Dead Water - 2004
- Dead and Buried - 2010
- The Shirt On His Back - 2011
- Ran Away - 2011
- Good Man Friday - 2013
Short stories
- "Libre" - 2006
- "There Shall Your Heart Be Also" - 2007
- "A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven" - 2010
Historical fiction
- Search the Seven Hills - 1983
- The Emancipator's Wife - 2005
- Patriot Hearts - 2007
- Homeland: A Novel - 2009
Abigail Adams mysteries (written as Barbara Hamilton)
- The Ninth Daughter - 2009
- A Marked Man - 2010
- Sup with the Devil - 2011
Sherlock Holmes short story pastiches
- "The Adventure of the Antiquarian's Niece" - 2003
- "The Dollmaker of Marigold Walk" - 2003
- "The Lost Boy" - 2008
Anne Steelyard: The Garden of Emptiness
- An Honorary Man - 2008 (graphic novel)
- The Gate of Dreams and Starlight - 2009 (graphic novel)
- A Thousand Waters - 2011 (graphic novel)
The Darwath Trilogy
- The Time of the Dark - 1982
- The Walls of Air - 1983
- The Armies of Daylight - 1983
Darwath novels
- Mother of Winter - 1996
- Icefalcon's Quest - 1998
- "Pretty Polly" - 2010
Sun Wolf and Starhawk
- The Ladies of Mandrigyn - 1984
- The Witches of Wenshar - 1987
- The Unschooled Wizard - 1987
- The Dark Hand of Magic - 1990
- "A Night with the Girls" - 2010
- "Fairest In the Land" - 2011
Winterlands
- Dragonsbane - 1985
- Dragonshadow - 1999
- Knight of the Demon Queen - 2000
- Dragonstar - 2002
- Princess - 2010
The Windrose Chronicles
- The Silent Tower - 1986
- The Silicon Mage - 1988
- Dog Wizard - 1993
- Stranger at the Wedding/Sorcerer's Wand - 1994
- "Firemaggot" - 2010
- "Corridor" - 2011
- "Plus-One" - 2012
Star Trek Universe
- Ishmael - 1985
- Ghost-Walker - 1991
- Crossroad - 1994
James Asher (vampire novels)
- Those Who Hunt the Night - 1988*
- Traveling with the Dead - 1995*
- Blood Maidens - 2010
- Magistrates of Hell - 2012
Beauty and the Beast
- Beauty and the Beast novelization - 1989
- Song of Orpheus - 1990
Sun-Cross
- The Rainbow Abyss - 1991
- The Magicians of Night - 1992
Star Wars Universe
- Children of the Jedi - 1995
- "Nightlily: The Lovers' Tale" - 1995
- "Taster's Choice: The Tale of Jabba's Chef" - 1996
- "Murder in Slushtime" - 1997
- Planet of Twilight - 1997
Raven Sisters
- Sisters of the Raven - 2002
- Circle of the Moon - 2005
Standalone works
- Bridge of the Rat God - 1994
- Magic Time - 2002
- Renfield: Slave of Dracula - 2006
Awards*
- Those Who Hunt the Night - Locus Award winner for Best Horror Novel in 1989
- Traveling with the Dead - Lord Ruthven Award in 1996
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